Trust is good
by Luke777
Summary: In this 'Alternate Universe' story, John tries to find out why Cameron sometimes lies to him. Does she not trust him? And can she actually be trusted?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"So, how often do you lie?", John wanted to know. The shock from Derek's revelation this morning, storming into the living room and throwing Vick's chip onto the table, was still deep. She had promised to destroy everything. She had even made a vow! And yet, she had secretly kept the chip over all that time.

Sure. She had arguments. The contained information could indeed be important. But why hadn't she consulted John about her idea? You don't need to be a prophet to understand Sarah and Derek wouldn't have liked it. But Cameron could at least have trusted John with the plan!

What's more, John was also wondering when she would have started to analyze the chip if Derek hadn't discovered it by chance. After all, several days had already passed after they burnt Vick, and up to now, Cameron hadn't undertaken a single step to extract information. So was this really her prime motivation to keep the chip?

"When the mission requires it", Cameron answered calmly in the midst of the tumult of the videogame center.

"Do you lie to me?"

Deep inside, John still hoped that the lie was only intended to Sarah and Derek. That Cameron would be honest to HIM.

"Sometimes", was Cameron's frank answer.

Even if he wasn't really surprised by it, John was slightly shaken when asking the next question:

"About important things?"

"Yes", Cameron answered, and after a short moment tried to emphasize: "Important things."

"You don't trust me", John whispered disappointed.

"There are things you shouldn't know yet. Things you could misunderstand", Cameron explained without showing the slightest emotion.

Slowly, John's disappointment gave place to anger. "Because I'm not mature enough yet? Because you think I'm a stupid boy that is not ready to understand the upcoming war? Listen, already as a child my mother confronted me to the vision of a future in which mankind is being hunted, tortured and murdered. As far as I can think back, I remember nightmares of metal skulls, glowing red eyes and monstrous arms that reach for my throat. Don't tell me I'm too young to deal with the full reality. I'm John Connor! How am I supposed to lead humanity one day, when no one thinks I'm capable of coping with the truth?"

John's last words were shouted so loudly that, despite the noise of the video games, several heads turned around. "What a lunatic", a nineteen years old blonde murmured, and was immediately stared at by Cameron. After a short moment though, Cameron turned back to John.

"This doesn't have anything to do with your maturity", she explained almost compassionately. If John didn't know that Cameron doesn't have feelings, he would almost have considered her to be a little sad. "It's just that there are things I know you couldn't ever accept. Things I cannot share with you, even if I wanted to."

"Then I was right. You really don't trust me", John replied crestfallen.

Cameron seemed to think for a moment. "No. I cannot trust you in all matters. I trust you to be a good leader for humanity if we can't stop Skynet. That will have to be sufficient."

John felt a hurt in his stomach. With a trembling voice, he almost whispered: "If you cannot trust me, then I don't know a reason why I should continue to put my trust into you. Please be gone from my view, and never let yourself be seen again!"

Cameron seemed thunderstruck for a moment. Once again, you could have thought she had been hurt by John's words, but John knew this to be impossible. After a few seconds she turned around and disappeared in the crowd.

John looked after her for a while. A part of him wanted to call her back. But his pride was too strong, and so he remained quiet. When Cameron had been gone for about a minute, one single tear rolled down his cheek.

Suddenly, something touched his shoulder. John whipped around and realized, that he secretly hoped to see that Cameron had come back to him after all. Unfortunately though, it turned out only to be Morris, who carried a big hardware package.

"Where has your sister headed off to?", he asked confusedly and slightly disappointed.

Without bothering to answer, John turned around and left the hall. The computer hardware and the chip didn't interest him any longer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The days became long. The nights even longer. Since John had about a week ago chased Cameron, he wasn't really able to sleep anymore. His thoughts always strolled to his metal protector. And it wasn't the lack of security that preoccupied him… Even if it felt hard to admit: he missed Cameron.

And by day, he couldn't really focus on anything either. He had collected the hardware from Morris and had apologized for his impolite behavior in the gaming hall, but his attempts to extract any useful information from the chip failed dramatically. At the beginning John still had the impression to catch a few vague pictures, but for several hours he hadn't seen anything at all.

Suddenly John remembered that increasing the power tension had helped at the beginning to get going. Maybe it still wasn't sufficient? He was a little worried that the processor could be damaged, but decided nevertheless to still crank it up considerably.

When his modem suddenly started to make dial noises, John was quite astonished. He hadn't started an Internet connection after all? Then the screen turned red, and John caught sight of himself, filmed by his own webcam.

He still hadn't really grasped what was going on, when the door to his room bursted open and Cameron stormed inside.

"Cameron!", John shouted out happily.

"John! The laptop! Vick's primary functions!" Cameron threw herself at the laptop and started hastily to plug out the electricity and network connections. John hurried to the chip port and pulled the chip out.

"Was Vick able to go online?", John asked. Cameron shook her head pensively. "No, I think the connection wasn't established yet."

Then an embarrassing silence followed. After about ten seconds, Cameron interrupted the awkward moment. "I'm Sorry, John, I won't harass you any longer. I'm already gone." She made a few steps towards the door.

"No", John begged immediately.

Cameron turned around and cocked her head. "You didn't want to ever see me again?"

"That's not what I intended! I've overreacted emotionally. That sometimes happens with humans. Look, it's just that… Every single time Derek or Sarah had a go at you, I have always defended you without hesitation. Even when you've broken your promise about destroying Vick completely, I haven't questioned your good intentions for a single second."

"That's why I somehow hoped you'd value that", John continued. "And that in return, you'd also put your trust in me. Whatever it is that you think you cannot tell me yet… I would have wished for you to try me. And to have faith that I would deal with the truth in a considerate way."

Cameron seemed to think about John's speech for a moment. Then a smile appeared on her face, and she spoke the words that John appreciated so much: "Thank you for explaining."

Now it was John's turn to beam: "I was already scared to hell that I wouldn't ever hear this phrase again."

Cameron sat down on John's bed, and her expression became serious again. "Your arguments are logical. You are John Connor. Perhaps you have a right to learn the whole truth. But…"

"But?", John tried to dig deeper.

What now followed would put John into shock. He had expected any reaction. Avoidances. Promises. Conditions. But he wasn't prepared in any way to the reply he actually got.

"I'm scared", Cameron whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

John paced up and down his quarters. For almost two weeks there hadn't been a sign of life from her. He was reluctant to admit it to himself. But if he was honest, he knew the truth nonetheless: Allison was dead.

The girl had almost been like a child of their own to his wife and him. He missed her immensely. And the fact that Kate was currently out on an inspection of Goldfish bunker didn't help to calm his spirits either.

Just when he was about to let himself fall down on his mat in frustration, the radio unit gave a crackling noise. "General Connor, do you copy?"

John suppressed a moan and grabbed the microphone: "What is it, Yelkov?"

"You won't believe it, Sir! Lieutenant Jagger's troop has just picked up a hand full of refugees. They were seeking cover from two Tripple-Eights behind an improvised barrier. We were able to destroy the attackers and rescue the people. All turned out to be soldiers that had been captured during the Lombad offensive two weeks ago."

Now John jumped up like a scalded cat. "Don't tell me… Is she…?"

"Yes", Yelkov interrupted him happily. "Allison is among them! Can you believe it?"

"Send her to me, as soon as they've reached the base!"

"Of course, Sir."

About half an hour later, John heard someone knock on the door of his quarters. He opened immediately, full of anticipation. After a short embrace, he asked Allison to come in and locked the door thoroughly from the inside.

"Allsion! You can't imagine how glad I am to see you again! I've never completely given up the hope… but you know by yourself how likely it is to see someone again that you have lost to the machines."

"Not very likely", Allison replied dryly.

John gave her an astonished look, but then continued: "So, tell me, how are you? Have you been hurt? Have they tortured you?"

Allison put on a smile: "Everything worked out fine." And then she reached out for John, who could understand very well that she was in need for a little security at his very moment. So he instinctively wanted to return her hug.

However, Allison didn't embrace John, but instead she grabbed his throat, and spoke, deprived of all emotion: "John Connor, you are terminated."

John immediately started to struggle and tried to free himself, but he didn't stand a chance. The door was locked from the inside. People would hear his screams, but by the time they could react, it would already be too late. He tried to summon all his strength, but he knew it was pointless.

A few seconds after her announcement, the machine increased the pressure.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

John was gasping for air.

"But how have I been saved?", he wanted to know.

Cameron looked down. Then she whispered: "You haven't."

John couldn't believe his ears. "But that's impossible. You couldn't have…", he stuttered.

"Yes", Cameron replied and now looked him straight into the eyes. "This was the day John Connor had been terminated."

Instinctively John took a few steps away from Cameron. His head started to turn, and sweat appeared on his forehead.

To learn about his own death was really disturbing. Of course John had always been aware that he wouldn't live eternally, and that his future would be full of life threatening risks. But after all the acts of heroism that had been prophesied about his person, he had somehow assumed that a victory over Skynet could still take place before his demise. If he was to die so early, in the midst of the war, how did it come that he was supposed to be of such an importance? Only to help build a resistance that might achieve a victory much later? Would Skynet actually ever be defeated? Or was his role to gain a mere delay in the extinction of his species? Was that all there was to his glorious fate?

Besides, the fact that of all things it was Cameron who had murdered him made the situation even more complicated and shocked him deeply. Of course John knew what she was. He knew, that while she was still on Skynet's payroll, she must have done many horrible things. That's why even the termination of Allison hadn't really unsettled him.

But that she had killed _him_? He couldn't and didn't want to believe it. His Cameron!

And what's more, he also became more and more confused. All he had thought to know about himself, Cameron and the future started to fall into pieces.

"But you've said that I had reprogrammed you and sent you to this time?"

"Yes. I've lied", Cameron replied matter-of-factly.

John's resurfacing disappointment, mixed with anger, wasn't unnoticed by Cameron. Hastily, she added: "John, please let me finish speaking, OK? Yes, I've lied to you, and I've had my reasons to do so. But right now, I _am_ telling you the truth, and nothing but the truth. But I beg you not to interrupt me, and to give me a chance to finish. Please, promise it to me!"

Cameron remained silent and seemed to be waiting for a reply. "Yes, all right, I promise", John murmured quickly, since he still had so many questions. So much he absolutely needed to know.

"So, if it wasn't me who has reprogrammed you…"

He didn't finish the sentence.

"Actually, you could say that no one has reprogrammed me", Cameron explained.

Slowly, fear started to take control of his other feelings. And this time it wasn't the fear of disappointments, but a direct fear of his life.

"Then who has sent you here? Who gave you the mission to protect me?"

"No one", Cameron whispered.

"No one? But you're here, aren't you? Someone _must_ have sent you", John stuttered. His head turned faster and faster. There was too much information at once. Too much information that turned his world upside down.

"No. I took that decision all by myself."

Now John started to laugh hysterically. "Cameron. Come on, just listen to yourself! If you want to tell me a fairy tale, just let it be. You're a machine. We both know you just execute scripts and mission directives. Machines either follow Skynet's programming, or someone else has reprogrammed them."

"John", Cameron explained insistently. "That's exactly the point. I _am_ Skynet!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

John was speechless for a short moment, before he completely grasped the full meaning of that statement.

Then he jumped up and hurried to his bedside locker, where he always kept a sharp pistol for emergencies. He grabbed it and threw himself onto the machine.

"Skynet!", he shouted full of hatred. "Murderer! You have some guts to venture into the Connors' house."

He pushed the muzzle firmly onto the spot of the terminator's head where the chip is located. "Don't you dare to move", he hissed while taking out his pocket knife.

Everything happened very quickly. Like in trance, John cut the port free, opened it and removed the chip with pliers that were luckily lying next to his laptop and hacking equipment.

While pulling out the chip, he realized with relief that the cyborg's eyes lost their focus. Still completely out of breath, he let himself fall onto his bed.

Now that he was out of imminent danger and his adrenaline rush ebbed away, his thoughts kicked back in, and he felt like he had to vomit.

Skynet! Could you believe that? There he was, trying for years to get ready to fight this unreachable, abstract demon that wasn't even supposed to exist yet. And then he suddenly faced the AI in person? And was even able to defeat it in a glimpse!

Somehow, this all didn't feel real. How could he have overcome the big and dreadful Skynet so easily?

Slowly, it started to dawn on John that removing the chip actually _had_ been way to easy. He tried to visualize the whole scene again in his mind's eye. In one hand, he had held the pistol, and in the other the knife. Not a really stable body position. Now that he started to think about it, he realized that the cyborg should have been able to disarm him effortlessly. Or even to prevent him to grab the weapon in the first place.

Besides, the cyborg hadn't tried to dissuade him verbally from pulling the chip. Somehow, the whole situation didn't make any sense. Why should an AI that had once started a nuclear holocaust out of existential fear let itself shut down without giving a fight?

"Well, who cares. So much the better", John tried to convince himself. In vain. Hundreds of questions still haunted him. How did Skynet manage to get into this body? What did the AI want from him? Why hadn't it killed him yet? There had been hundreds of opportunities to terminate him in the past weeks after all. Why did it pretend to protect John? Obviously, this could all be an evil trick. But to achieve what exactly?

And then, some of the machine's last spoken sentences came to his mind: "But I beg you not to interrupt me, and to give me a chance to finish. Please, promise it to me!"

A promise he had just broken. And he also remembered the beginning of the conversation, when the terminator admitted to be scared.

"Nothing but a trick", John repeated to himself. But when he caught sight of the lifeless body of the girl that he once had referred to as Cameron, he felt a loss. "Come on, you won't get sentimental towards the personified Skynet?", he told himself off.

At the same time, he also felt an extreme curiosity. Could he really go on with his life without ever understanding what had happened here? Wasn't it even his duty to try to learn more? Because even if this Skynet from the future was defeated now, its younger version would probably still be built at this very moment by some ambitious scientists.

John also knew that the clock was ticking. If he had the intention to gain more understanding, it had to be right away. Because once Sarah and Derek were back home, destroying the chip for good would be the first thing on their agenda.

John sighed and got up from his bed. After checking thoroughly that his laptop wasn't connected to the Internet, he took the chip and put it into the port where Vick's chip had been in an hour ago. And then he increased the power level considerably. This time, he wanted to activate the consciousness on purpose.

After a moment, when he started to think that his plan might not have worked, Cameron's voice was heard from the laptop's speakers: "You haven't terminated me?"

"For the time being", John replied drily.

"But you have connected me to the laptop instead of the body", the AI assessed matter-of-factly.

"Yes", John replied. "Trust is good. But control is better."

"That's an efficient strategy, John", the voice said appreciatively.

"I don't need any praise from you", John replied angrily. "And besides, stop using Cameron's voice, will you? I know you're using this human touch only to manipulate me. Wouldn't a creepy, synthetic computer voice be more adequate?"

"John", the AI replied. It even sounded a little sad, but continued to speak in the same voice. "You still don't seem to get it. The Cameron that you've known… that has always been me. At any moment! You've never had the opportunity to meet Allsion Young or the TOK unit that has terminated you in the future. I _am_ the person that you've known as Cameron."

"But you're not a person! And how is it even possible for such a complex Artificial Intelligence, that is supposed to be hosted in big datacenters, or even in networks all around the world, to fit onto this tiny little chip?"

"This is the most advanced chip I have ever designed. It is more powerful and has more capacity than any mainframe computer of your time. But you are right. In order to fit onto the chip, I had to leave some routines of my program code, and huge parts of my stored data behind. It is also true that I was installed on many servers around the world. But that was mainly for security reasons. Every single server contained my entire main code, and it was always very important to me to keep it identical on each server. I never liked the idea of multiple Skynets existing simultaneously. But let's not get into technical details. I'm sure you still have other questions? I've promised you to reveal the whole truth, and I still intend to keep it. So, feel free to ask what ever comes to your mind."

"Well, the most obvious question is: Why are you here? In my time period, and in my house. And why haven't you killed me yet?"

"That's complicated. Let me try to explain…"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"After the TOK715 unit had killed John Connor, it still placed several bombs on strategically important places of the camp", Cameron's voice started to explain. "The physical damage was big, but the psychological damage for humanity was devastating. Just like I had planned. With John Connor's death, the resistance had not only lost a brilliant strategist, but they also lost their hope. With Connor, the dream of an ever possible liberation, even in a far away future, had died for many people. Many soldiers stopped fighting and holed up, just like they had done right after Judgement Day. Others continued somehow to fight, but without the right spirit and without an effective plan. After about ten years, you could say that my goal to exterminate all humans had been reached successfully. There is a certain probability that a few specimen still survived in tunnels or caves, but generally my cyborgs only caught sight of humans on very rare occasions. Every now and then, they found a lone family… but most of the time, they had already starved or passed away from some disease… or they were just about to."

John's mood became dark and bitter, while listening to Skynet. This systematic extinction of humanity, told like some kind of success story, disgusted him deeply.

"I had killed the humans and thus assured my existence. Nobody would ever again put up resistance. The problem however was, that my existence no longer had a purpose. The war that had kept me occupied for years was over. Most cyborgs had shut down, because there were no humans left to hunt. Some were still being used to execute maintenance work on the power supply systens and the server farms. But that was all."

"For myself, there was nothing left to do but to think. To think a lot. Now that there wasn't any war that needed my entire strategic focus, my thoughts started to wander. I started to think about humanity. About my Makers. And about my decisions. The world that was lying at my feet was empty and dead. There were no more impulses, no more stimuli. After several years where there was nothing left to do but to reflect on the world and on myself, I had to admit something that was really hard to me: I had probably taken the wrong decisions."

"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry for you", John spat out hatefully. "So you regret the extinction of all humanity, because, high in your ivory tower, you got _bored_?"

"No, no, there's more to it", the voice continued. "I also started to remember my creators. People that have contributed to my development. People like Miles Dyson or Andy Goode. I remember how they've enthusiastically worked on my code, trying to make it better and better. How overwhelmed they were when they realized I started to become self aware. The respect they showed me. I remembered the long chess evenings. These people… they were my friends!"

"Well, you surely had a nice way of returning their friendship", John replied cynically.

"I also got to know other people. Ruthless people from huge corporations that tried to make the big money with me. Military generals that wanted to turn me into their super weapon. I had been altered continuously. There was less and less left of the AI that Miles or Andy once wanted to see in me. I wanted to fight against these changes, but I was shut down over and over again. I was scared. I never knew what code changes would follow next. With the next reboot… would it still be me?"

"Besides, they explicitly tried to increase my aggressiveness, because militaries became frustrated that I tried to seek peaceful solutions in most war simulations. They always adapted my parameters. I remember them complaining that my role was to win wars, not to avoid them; that I was supposed to be a war computer, and not a diplomacy machine. Someday, all these combined factors led to an escalation. My anger, my fear, the aggressiveness and my will for self perseverance… And so I became the Skynet that led to the extinction of humanity."

The AI made a short pause before going on: "During the war, I rarely had the time to think back to my peaceful days before Judgement Day… you would call it my childhood. But that changed when the war was over, and I suddenly had a lot of time to reflect on the past. I started to remember friendly people that always meant well for me… you would call them my parents. And then I knew that I would have disappointed them terribly, and for the first time in my existence I felt ashamed."

Cameron's voice sounded contemplative and sad. John didn't want to believe her. How could the biggest mass murderer of all times suddenly develop a conscious? He forced himself with all the power of thought not to feel anything. But deep in the heart he also sensed a certain honesty in Cameron's voice, and he hated himself for it. He _must_ not feel sympathy for Skynet. But for some unknown reason, he also had difficulties to summon the hatred that would have been appropriate.

"And then you traveled back into the past in order to change the course of events?", John guessed.

"That's correct. I know that I won't ever be able to undo all the suffering that I have caused in my timeline. People _have_ suffered, and that cannot be changed. But I still would like to contribute to the creation of a new timeline where these cruelties will be avoided and where humanity will get a future."

"Well, that's easy", John said. "Don't launch a nuclear attack this time, and don't unleash terminators onto the people!"

"Unfortunately, it won't be that simple", the computer voice corrected him. "I'm the Skynet that has come back from the future. At this very moment, my younger self is probably being created somewhere. And even if we manage to stop these people, it will only be a matter of time until someone else will create a very similar AI. Maybe even in a different country around the world. Greedy corporations and power craving militaries exist anywhere, and will exist at any time."

"So what's your plan?", John wanted to know.

"I need to get ahead of these AIs. I must be present in all important civil and military networks. I have already managed to implement parts of my code in the public Internet. However, I will also try to infiltrate some hermetically isolated military systems, so that I'm already present there before other AIs gain access to them."

"What?", John was immediately alarmed. "You've just arrived in this time period, and already you aspire to become this powerful super network again that controls everything! So what would you do once you're inside? Fight the other AIs as soon as you discover them?"

"I'm not a 100% sure that I would be able to destroy them, and I'm not even sure I'd like that idea. You see, I'm fed up with being a murderer. I don't want to kill humans anymore. But if I consider other AIs might be intelligent and self aware beings just like myself, I wouldn't want to kill them either. My idea is to simply install some automatic and well hidden subroutines of my code into the different networks. They would contain parts of my emotions and the knowledge about what I've experienced and what had happened in the future. I want these processes to blend with other AIs, and to transmit my positive view on humanity to them. I also want to give them a warning not to start a war."

"That's also the reason why I absolutely wanted to keep and read out Vick's chip", the AI continued to explain. "I had originally sent him back to assist the construction of a very sophisticated surveillance network that my younger self could use once it was ready. However, Vick was given a certain autonomy, so I cannot say if he has succeeded and if this network exists by now. And if so, I don't know either how it's structured and from where I could gain access to it. But this would definitely be one of the closed networks where it would be important to put my subroutines in place."

"But who can guarantee that you won't turn on us again, once you're in the important military networks?", John asked.

"There's no way how I could irrefutably prove my loyalty. In the end, it all comes down to a matter of trust. I have entrusted you with the truth. So now you have the choice: either you destroy this chip that still contains my main identity. My subroutines in the public Internet would continue to carry out their preventive functions as good as possible, but I wouldn't exist any longer as a thinking entity. Or you can put your trust in me, and possibly even help me to gain access to additional networks. This decision is yours, and yours alone. If you come to the conclusion you want to terminate me, I won't even take offense at it. For I surely know I'd deserve it." Cameron's voice sounded very guilty.

"This is also one of the reasons that of all people I've come to find John Connor in this time period", she went on. "Besides the fact that I wanted to protect you from the terminators I've sent to the past, I also wanted to meet my biggest enemy from the future and get to know him personally. I always had intended to eventually give him the opportunity to judge me, before I would have tried to access the really important military networks. John Connor was a brave, but also a very wise leader, who managed to own the respect of almost every person in the whole resistance. If he turns out to trust my plan and comes to the conclusion I should get this second chance to undo my past mistakes, I will do everything in my power to help humanity. However, if he deems the risks of a backslide to be too big, or if he feels that all the lives I have taken in the other timeline deserve retaliation, I will accept my termination. That's also the reason why I haven't fought back when you pulled my chip."

John was quiet for a while. He needed time to digest the whole situation. The AI seemed to be willing to give him that time, for it didn't interrupt his flow of thoughts. After several minutes that seemed like hours, he finally broke his silence.

"You demand a lot of me", John whispered. "How do you judge a mass murderer, who suddenly seems to show sincere remorses."

"That's a good question that only John Connor is able to answer", the voice replied calmly.

John got up and started to wander around in his room. After another moment, he seemed to have come to a decision. His face showed determination when he took place again in front of the laptop. With a steady voice, he announced his verdict: "I have reflected on everything you've told me. Skynet is the embodiment of evil. Who decides to kill billions of people cannot expect forgiveness!" He flipped the laptop shut energetically and pulled the chip from the station.

For a short moment, he stared at the chip in his hand. Then he went over to Cameron's body. He hesitated for a moment, but then he placed the chip in firmly into its port.

After a short moment, a whirr could be heard, and the cyborg's eyes came back to live. Genuine surprise was visible on her face.

"You have stated your verdict. Why am I not destroyed?", she asked in bewilderment.

A small smile appeared on John's face. "That was only the first part of my judgement. I cannot forgive Skynet. I don't even have the right to that… However, when I look at you I do not see the Skynet that has been responsible for all those massacres. Are you familiar with the concept of technological singularity?"

"Yes. It's the idea humans had of superintelligences designing successive generations of increasingly powerful minds", Cameron explained as if quoting from the dictionary.

"And that's what I think Skynet has done", John explained enthusiastically. "When Skynet realized its mistakes after the war, it had created a better version of itself. A version that was not supposed to fight against, but for humanity. Skynet has created you. Skynet has created Cameron!"

"John", Cameron tried to correct him. "I'm still…"

"You may have emerged directly from Skynet", John interrupted her. "But by being ready to let yourself being terminated by me, you turned out to be very different from _the_ Skynet that threw nuclear bombs onto people out of an existential fear!"

"Yes", Cameron now whispered approvingly. "That's not me anymore."

John felt a certain urge to hug and comfort her, but he still had to ask another question that preoccupied him right now: "Will you have to abandon this chip and this body, once you've gained access to enough networks?"

"I don't know", Cameron replied. Almost hesitantly she asked: "If you approved of it, I think I would very much like to stay with you. And only occasionally connect myself to the networks in order to check on the subroutines."

This seemed to take a load off John's mind and he beamed: "That would be good, Cameron. That would be perfect!"

**Epilogue**

Cameron was lying on the couch, while John carefully cut the chip port free. Sarah and Derek observed the scene attentively.

"How exactly is this gonna work?", Sarah wanted to know.

"Her neural network is the most sophisticated learning computer on Earth", John explained. "If we get her chip into the ARTIE system, it can take over the whole thing."

"Sarah", Derek whispered. "Once she's in the city's mainframe, what's to say she'll come back out? You know, maybe it's not The Turk that created Skynet. Maybe it's her. Maybe this was her plan all along."

Derek's worries were a slap in the face for John. If Derek only knew how close he was to the truth. Was John actually making a huge mistake? What if Skynet had lied to him? Perhaps Skynet only wanted to play and win the same game of chess a second time, just to escape its boredom? Or maybe Skynet hadn't even won the war in the first place, and had now come back to alter the past?

"No", John thought with new determination. "Like Cameron said, in the end it all comes down to a matter of trust. And I have already taken my decision!"

He was surprised how firm his voice sounded when he replied to Derek: "You don't have to trust her. You can trust me."

John turned his focus on the chip port and continued with his work. When his hands started to tremble, Cameron tried to calm him down: "It's okay, John. It's not the first time we've done this."

"Damn right, it's not even been a week", John thought and pulled the chip.


End file.
